Published 4:00 am, Saturday, April 24, 1999

An environmental group has offered a bleak picture of air pollution in Silicon Valley, releasing data on the cumulative exposure of more than 100 contaminants and their effects on residents.

The results, which were released yesterday on an interactive Web site, "are much higher than we ever realized," said Michael Stanley- Jones, a member of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition in San Jose, which compiled the data.

One of the group's findings is that low-income areas in the Silicon Valley beltway have more to be worried about than the tony neighborhoods of Saratoga.

"The communities at greater risk for cancer show up in the flatlands, in the industrial heartland, in a dramatic fashion," Stanley-Jones said.

A spokesman for the federal Environmental Protection Agency cautioned, however, that the conclusions may be "premature" and are based on 1990 data.

The data, the environmental group says, shows a presence of toxins like arsenic, lead and mercury compounds floating in the air.

On the other hand, the environmental group said, it found that region's groundwater contamination problems have improved during the past 10 years.

High-tech companies and the EPA warned yesterday that the information on the Web site's "Eco- Maps" at www.svtc.org/svtchome.htm should be taken in context because the information probably is outdated.

"It's premature to put this information out," said EPA spokesman Al Zemsky. "There have been refinements in air standards (since 1990). You can't draw real-world conclusions from old data. To be meaningful, the data has to be timely, accurate and reliable."

The EPA released its data to the group, founded 16 years ago as the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, after the nonprofit organization filed a Freedom of Information Act.

The EPA is expected to release its own comprehensive look at the cumulative effects of hazardous air pollutants using 1996 data by the end of this year.

What makes cumulative air pollution data unusual is that until now, chemicals have been studied one by one. The new era of cumulative studies should give the public more comprehensive and realistic information.

Recognizing the inherent shortfalls of using almost 10-year-old data, the environmental group's staff said there still is value in publishing the most current information available.

For the past 1 1/2 years, the group's six-member toxic team used data from the EPA and the 1990 census to map out by neighborhoods where 118 of the 188 federally recognized hazardous air pollutants are concentrated.

The coalition also zeroed in on 17 hazardous air pollutants that are generated from the high-tech industry. An example is arsenic, which is a staple chemical in making computer chips.

Long-term exposure to air pollution in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and parts of San Mateo and Alameda counties can cause between 47 and 1,500 additional cases of cancer for every million residents, the data show.

Those numbers are far higher than the federal Clean Air Act's goal of reducing the cancer risk from air pollution to no more than one case in a million. The American Cancer Society estimates that 400,000 of every 1 million Americans will develop some form of cancer during their lifetimes.

"It's not a rosy picture," Stanley- Jones said, although he acknowledged that the cancer risk figures are projections and do not necessarily translate into the actual cancer rate.

Cancer is not the only fear, the group said. The increase in asthma rates also may be linked to air pollution, the group said.

High-tech companies want to make clear that the pollution problems are not all their fault.

IBM's environmental spokeswoman June Andersen said studies show that industries contribute only about 0.4 percent of the nation's hazardous air pollutants, while cars and households emit much of the rest.

At IBM, only one hazardous air pollutant -- ethylene glycol -- is used in quantities of more 10,000 pounds per year, which must be reported to the EPA. Of that, 113 pounds are released annually into the air, which is a "tiny amount," Andersen said. The chemical is used to make IBM's magnetic recording heads.

Though the toxics coalition did highlight chemicals used by the high-tech industry, the group's executive director, Ted Smith, did not blame any one Silicon Valley company for harming the environment.

Rather, the group said it puts out the information to alert communities about cancer risks with the hope that they will put pressure on government agencies and companies to clean up the problem. The Web site has links to government agencies and company executives.

The Web site, which combines information from 10 government agencies, also has data on Superfund sites and groundwater contamination in Silicon Valley.

In one example, seven Superfund sites are located in the immediate area where the old Sunnyvale High School used to stand between East Arques Avenue and the Lawrence Expressway.

POLLUTION MAPS

The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition has posted a series of interactive maps on its Web site at
www.svtc.org/svtchome.htm
. One set of maps shows toxic chemical sources in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties and portions of San Mateo and Alameda counties, while another set shows concentrations of air pollutants in Santa Clara County.